Everyone stood frozen, watching Chur writhing on the ground in excruciating pain.

What had happened to Chur? Why did he suddenly look like he was on the brink of death?

However, Lia noticed the crimson potion in Viktor's hand and quickly realized what Viktor had done.

"Is it that miraculous potion again?" she thought.

Looking at the strangely contorting Chur on the ground, Lia made some guesses. If the color corresponded to the effect, and blue potions restored magic power, then the red potion should restore life.

Lia's guess wasn't wrong.

At this moment, in Viktor's view, Chur's health bar was constantly fluctuating.

Whenever Chur's health bar was about to reach zero due to the poison, Viktor would forcefully pour a fresh restoration potion down his throat.

Viktor was deliberately keeping Chur in a state between life and death.

Chur's current sensation was very strange.

In one moment, he felt his soul becoming very light, as if it was about to ascend to the legendary heaven.

The next second, his consciousness would return to his body.

Constantly feeling his body endure the pain of thousands of ants gnawing at his heart, his limbs were stiff and straight, unable to make any movements to alleviate the pain.

He couldn't even commit suicide.

Foaming at the mouth, his eyes bloodshot, drooling, he shouted angrily at Viktor:

"Kill me! Kill me now!"

Viktor silently watched him, waiting for Chur to fall into another painful near-death state.

Time and again, his consciousness blurred, his life flashing before his eyes. Chur's memories kept appearing, only to be shattered by Viktor's hand.

Chur knew he probably wouldn't die, and could only wait for the poison to consume his body, before being given a new dose of suffering by the man before him.

After a while, the poison's effect finally disappeared.

Viktor had used several bottles of potion to forcibly bring Chur back from the brink of death.

Chur felt his body gradually regaining sensation, the pain slowly dissipating.

"Is it finally over...?"

Swoosh!

Before he could catch his breath, he felt a blade instantly pierce through his four limbs.

The pain returned, unbearably intense.

His newly recovered limbs were once again rendered useless, causing Chur to completely lose his composure.

"Demon, you're a demon!"

Squelch!

Viktor drove his blade through Chur's palm, pinning it to the soil.

The crimson blood merged with the earth.

He no longer looked at the painfully howling Chur, but bent down to pick up the magic-suppressing stone and the round shield from the ground.

As he picked up the two items, Viktor saw their respective attributes in his vision.

[Item Name: Evil Knight]

[Effect: +100 Health, +30 Physical Defense]

[Skill: Parry - Instantly deflect an enemy's attack. Successful parry causes up to 1 second of stun.]

[Item Name: Magic-Suppressing Stone]

[Description: Can block magic flow within a certain range]

'Evil Knight' was the last trap Chur had prepared for him.

If someone didn't know about the parry skill and rashly attacked this shield, they would be stunned for one second.

For Chur, as a boss, this one second of stun could easily take half of a player's life.

This was why many players found it difficult to defeat Chur when they first encountered him.

Even later on, without the overwhelming advantage of levels and equipment, Chur's unique shield was enough to catch many players off guard.

Getting parried by a boss and then stabbed in the kidney was no laughing matter.

Fortunately, any of Chur's actions were as transparent as glass in Viktor's eyes.

Moreover, the current Chur wasn't as formidable as his future boss version.

Even if Viktor were given a level 10 warrior account, he could defeat Chur without taking damage through his superior skills.

It would just take a bit longer.

Viktor put away the shield and turned his gaze to the magic-suppressing stone.

The magic-suppressing stone's effect was as straightforward as its name suggested.

Even in the kingdom, such items were extremely rare.

Why did Viktor know about this thing? Naturally, because he had used a magic-suppressing stone before.

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As an item, it was practically a divine tool for tricking mages.

Imagine a mage player discovering a wild boss in the wilderness, defeating it and about to divide the spoils.

Then a passing player runs out, throws down a magic-suppressing stone, snatches up the loot, and runs away.

That scene...

Recalling this, Viktor let out a faint smile.

Yes, that wild passing player was him.

Seeing Viktor leave Chur's side, Lia revealed a slight smile.

It was as if she had always believed Viktor couldn't possibly lose.

"Go ahead, it's our turn to clean up."

Lia's subordinates reacted, quickly approaching to control Chur.

Viktor walked towards Lia.

As he passed by Leanne, he deliberately gave her a glance.

Although Viktor was inside the barrier, he had noticed when Leanne tried to come to his rescue.

Her agile speed left a deep impression on Viktor, and now seeing her familiar attire and green eyes, Viktor felt a sense of familiarity.

He remembered that among Lia's subordinates, there was an extremely agile elf.

Her speed was as fast as lightning, infiltrating enemy camps at night as if entering unguarded territory.

She had once assassinated seventeen imperial nobles in a single night, earning her the title of the empire's top and most mysterious assassin.

So, he softly spoke, as if testing:

"Leanne?"

Hearing his voice, Leanne's body suddenly trembled. She looked at Viktor, involuntarily taking a few steps back.

How did Viktor know her name?

Impossible, Miss Lia wouldn't have revealed her identity.

She tried to maintain her composure, not making any response.

But Viktor had seen her momentary reaction, which only confirmed his suspicion.

His eyes scanned Leanne up and down, completely disregarding whether it was polite or not.

Leanne felt a chill run down her spine. Viktor's gaze seemed to see right through her.

Then, Viktor withdrew his gaze. His cold face revealed a faint smile as he nodded to her.

He passed by her side without stopping.

Leanne quickly turned her head to look, but Viktor was already standing beside Lia.

"I didn't arrive too late, did I?"

"I could have handled it even if you hadn't come."

Lia turned her head and shrugged. She wouldn't have been cornered by a mere magic-suppressing stone.

However, Viktor's timely arrival to save her did warm her heart.

She secretly glanced at Viktor.

Indeed, at some point, Viktor had started to change.

At some unknown moment, the crow flew down from the sky and perched on Viktor's shoulder.

Seeing the crow, Lia was puzzled.

"Why didn't I see it earlier?"

Viktor only gave Lia an seemingly unrelated response.

"Because I never fight an unprepared battle."

Lia scratched her head, feeling confused.

What did that have to do with her question?

Of course, she didn't know.

If Viktor inside the magic-suppressing stone's range truly couldn't defeat Chur,

Then Vega outside would have instantly dealt with the magic-suppressing stone's barrier.

Although the possibility of Viktor losing to Chur was merely one percent,

Viktor wanted to completely eliminate even that one percent.

He wanted to achieve 'perfect victory', becoming a victor who would never fail.

"I'll leave the remaining interrogation phase to you," Viktor said calmly to Lia.

Lia also became serious, responding to Viktor:

"Of course, I will thoroughly investigate the parasites within our family through him."

Lia spoke coldly.

A stranger from the kingdom infiltrating their family's territory - she naturally had been prepared for this.

In fact, Chur had been using an alias and had forged an identity in the empire from the beginning.

Lia had known about all of this long ago.

After all, the person who had forged Chur's identity was a subordinate of the Kravina family.

Chur's seemingly flawless disguise had actually been under Lia's nose the entire time.

Lia suddenly turned to Viktor and said,

"Give me a few bottles of that potion of yours."

Viktor looked at Lia, her surface smile hiding who knows what cruel thoughts.

Though she was smiling, her voice came out cold and eerie.

"I wouldn't want this guy to accidentally die during the interrogation."

Viktor shook out five bottles of potion from his coat.

"Ten thousand Geo. Don't forget to transfer the money."

Lia raised her head and glared at Viktor, taking the five bottles of potion and leaving directly.

Without looking back, her voice rang out.

"Take it yourself when you get back!"

After she left, Vega looked at Viktor.

"How come you're even charging your sister?"

"It's for your snack money."

"Nice! You should charge more!"

...

A teleportation magic circle appeared under Viktor's feet, and he instantly disappeared.

Viktor wasn't particularly interested in interrogation, nor was he especially skilled at it.

It was better to leave it to professionals like Lia.

In the blink of an eye, accompanied by the appearance of a blue magic circle, Viktor returned to the family's entrance. The family knights on night duty had been waiting for a long time.

When Viktor returned last night, Helnerson had already informed the family knights on night duty that Master Viktor had returned.

The knights were naturally prepared.

The moment they saw Viktor, they bowed respectfully.

Viktor nodded and walked into the mansion.

Although it was the middle of the night, Viktor didn't feel sleepy at all.

He played with the round shield in his hand, like a child who had just gotten a new toy and wanted to try out its effect.

He welcomed any method that could make him stronger.

Thinking about it, he remembered Helnerson.

This powerful bear-man warrior would be more than sufficient as Viktor's sparring partner.

Sufficient to the point where he might even kill Viktor with one punch.

Realizing this, Viktor promptly cancelled the idea of using Helnerson as a sparring partner.

Indeed, lacking in stats could be compensated for with skill, but skill wasn't omnipotent.

When the stat difference was so high that you couldn't even break through the opponent's defense,

No amount of skill would be of any use.

Helnerson wasn't a suitable sparring partner. So, who else could practice close combat with him?

Suddenly, a silver figure flashed through his mind.

He opened his mouth, murmuring her name.

"Gwen Delin."